A recent EBU Media Intelligence Service (MIS) report: Trust in Media 2016, shows that TV and radio are still the most trusted media in the EU and Europe. Radio was the big winner with 20 countries qualifying it as the most trusted medium, and TV ranked second with 13 countries placing it as the most trusted source.

In the age of media abundance, trust is a crucial factor for all media organizations, especially when it comes to building audiences. For EBU Members, having an idea of citizens’ trust levels in different types of media can be important to strategic planning.

The report is based on the results of the 2015 Eurobarometer, a survey consisting of approximately 1,000 face-to-face interviews in each of the 28 EU Member States, and the five acceding and candidate countries (Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey). In the survey, respondents were asked whether they tend to trust, or not, five different types of media: TV, radio, written press, internet, and online social networks.

While people generally tend to trust broadcast media, it must be noted that the results of the study indicate a decline in trust across all media. Over the past 5 years, radio in the EU has lost 3 points on the net trust index, while trust in TV has dropped 10 points. Trust in the written press has increased by 1 point compared to five years ago, while trust in the internet dropped 8 points. Both the written press and the internet have steadily produced negative scores on the net trust index, which means that citizens generally tend not to trust these media.

Although the perceived trustworthiness of online social networks, which have been included in the survey since 2014, has increased slightly, they are still the least trusted type of media in 15 countries.

Compared to EU Member States, acceding and candidate countries typically experienced lower levels of trust in the media, except for Albania, which enjoys one of the highest levels of trust in the media overall.

The full report is available only for EBU Members on the Media Intelligence Portal.